Let's face it: museums can ruin a perfectly good
vacation. But with our all-new, full-color edition of Europe 101, you can open
Europe's treasure chest of great sights and watch them come alive.

After
three decades of travel, Rick and Gene have distilled what you need to know (and
no more!) in order to fully appreciate Europe's sights and culture. Written for
smart people who slept through their history and art history classes, Europe 101
tells the story of Europe — from the pyramids to Picasso — illustrated with
hundreds of color photos, featuring Europe's most important art, architecture,
places and people.

Great Taste, Less Filling: Europe 101 doesn't just
tell you what happened way back when, but more importantly, why it matters and
where to see the most vivid examples. Written in a breezy, humorous style,
Europe 101 will actually get you excited about art and history — not feeling
like you just ate an encyclopedia.

What's Inside: You'll get a 420-page,
dozen-chapter, fully-illustrated rundown of Europe's history, plus 40 pages on
art and music appreciation, and a handy six-page timeline digest of the past 32
millennia. For Travelers: Maps, timelines, and lists of must-see sights
will help you plan your next itinerary...and the ones after that.

For
Armchair Travelers: It's the perfect, fat-free introduction to Europe's rich art
and history, and a handy reference book (what exactly was Baroque,
anyway?).

It Works: The New York Times says, "Europe 101 is a diligent
and thorough review of the subject that steers visitors in the right
directions." The Boston Globe calls it a "humorous and historical perspective
covering a mere 5,000 years of Western civilization." The Chicago Tribune calls
this new edition "fun, informative, entertaining and practical."

Rick Steves Europe: A Symphonic Journey is an hour-long concert and video special. Rick teams up with his "hometown" (Edmonds, WA) Cascade Symphony Orchestra on a musical tour that starts in the USA, then touches down in seven different European countries.

The DVD: For each stop, Rick paints the cultural context of Nationalism and Romanticism in words, then the orchestra plays stirring 19th-century anthems — Strauss in Austria, Wagner in Germany, Smetana in the Czech Republic, Verdi in Italy, Elgar in England, Grieg in Norway, Berlioz in France — each accompanied by glorious video footage. While each piece celebrates a particular nationality, the finale, Beethoven's Ode to Joy (Europe's official national anthem), celebrates a continent whose motto is "united in diversity." (DVD running time: 56½ minutes)